1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to preparations that reduce craving for food substances and craving for other substances that are orally consumed or otherwise orally provided, such as the smoking of tobacco. In particular the invention relates to preparations and a method for reducing oral craving and allows patients to eliminate or greatly reduce the dependence on substances which they crave.
2. Description of the Related Art
Overweight and obesity are major problems in the western community due to increased consumption and changes in nutritional value of foods that are consumed. Many humans, and their companion animals, suffer from overweight. Today obesity is one of the most serious health problems in the United States, with approximately 30% of adults suffering from obesity, and at least 50% of adults in the United States being overweight. The problem of obesity in the United States and most western countries has been steadily increasing in the last several decades. Such obesity has caused or contributed to a marked increase in the occurrence of heart diseases, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis and increased morbidity and mortality. There is also recent research which links obesity with different types of cancer, particularly breast cancer. Obesity is a serious public health hazard, second in importance only to tobacco. Being overweight reduces lifespan as well as quality of life.
There are many methods suggested for management of obesity and overweight. These include diets that exclude fats and high caloric elements, appetite suppressants, psychotherapeutic techniques and operative techniques. One of the most common methods is the use of stimulants. Amphetamine-like agents act on the brain to reduce the sensation of hunger. Experience indicates that most of the appetite suppressants work for a short period of time, but a few weeks or a few months later they lose most of their potency and patients start regaining weight. There is also a serious problem with the maintenance of a desirable weight after it is achieved, for the simple reason that appetite suppressants cannot be continued indefinitely at full strength.
The reason that most people become overweight is that they consume more nutrition calories than they require, often primarily because of cravings for certain foods, such as chocolate or potato chips. In other words, humans do not only eat to survive, but also eat for the taste, flavor and gratification. The degree of the satiety has changed and is predicated not only the necessary nutritional requirements but also on unphysiological “unnatural” pleasure drive.
The complex mechanism that is triggered in the mammalian body during food digestion is characterized by multiple interdependent processes where different hormones with multiple functions influence different organs at the same time, and by that means allow the whole body to function properly.
One of the necessary sensations which completes the mechanism of digestion is satiety. There are many unknown areas in our knowledge of satiety, but the number hormones known to participate in the process of digestion also play a significant role inducing a sense of satiety.
Gastrointestinal peptides are predominantly polypeptides produced in and secreted from specialized gut endocrine cells as well as nerves. The production of gastrointestinal hormones increases when gut endocrine cells are stimulated by food, intraluminal pH, releasing factors, other transmitters or hormones. A number of fairly well-known gastrointestinal hormones are amylin, CCK (cholecystokinin), gastrin, secretin, enterostatin, and neuropeptide Y [3-36]. All of these hormones play their specific role in digestion processes confined to the intestinal tract, and also participate in transmitting information to the brain enabling the brain to be well appraised of the quantity and quality of food being consumed and thus modulating and regulating the amount of food intake from meal to meal. Information from the gastrointestinal tract and oropharynx is newly transmitted to the brain.
It has been proven that hormones reach tractus solitarius via the hypothalamus and concentrating there, they induce satiety, among them CCK, amylin and possibly insulin. Amylin and CCK also reduce gastric emptying and intestinal mobility and thus delay the delivering of food to the intestines and contribute to the early sense of the satiety and as a result limit the overall quantity of food being consumed during a particular meal.
The hazards of tobacco smoking due to coal tars, carbon monoxide and nicotine are well-known. Most lung cancers are the result of tobacco smoking, as are cancers of the urinary bladder, and a variety of heart and circulation problems and high blood pressure. There are very many Americans who try to stop smoking each year, most of whom do not succeed. The difficulties inherent in ending the use of tobacco are great and are the result of the effect of nicotine withdrawal syndrome, which presents itself in increased tension, irritability, restlessness, intense craving, depression, bradicardia, hypotension, constipation, sleep disturbance and increased body weight. The invention herein alleviates the problems related to tobacco smoking by reducing or eliminating the craving for smoking.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a product and a treatment method using certain food ingredients in a manner that reduces or eliminates the craving for eating of foods for which the patient wishes to reduce consumption. Such ingredients preferably include but are not limited to margarine, mustard, pepper and salt.
It is a further method of the invention herein to provide a product and a treatment method that reduce the craving for tobacco.
Other objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.